How much does a recommendation from Steve Carell mean? It helped seal the deal for Randall Einhorn to make his feature directorial debut on Late Bloomer, after years of directing episodes of small screen comedies like The Office. Alcon Entertainment is financing the comedy that Warner Bros has set for August 12, 2011 release.

Inspired by the true story of a man who had surgery at age 27 to correct a condition that kept him from reaching puberty, the comedy is about a guy who deals with a sudden rush of raging teenage hormones at a time when most men are calming down. Einhorn can be considered a late bloomer as a feature director, but in the last decade he has directed dozens of sitcom episodes ranging from The Office to Modern Family, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Parks and Recreation. I’m told that many of the castmembers from those shows called in recommendations to Alcon and Warner Bros, but the good word provided by the studio’s comedy fixture really helped Einhorn make a feature jump that not many TV directors get the chance to make. Einhorn’s WME reps just closed his deal.

The film, based on the Ken Baker book Man Made, was originally scripted by Joe Nussbaum, with Paul Kaplan and Mark Torgrove working on a rewrite. Alcon’s Andrew Kosove and Broderick Johnson are producing with Jesse Israel. Production is expected to start in October.